Chapter One: Dimitri Pov

"Come on Dimi!" shouted the little voice across the room. I turned to find my baby sister standing in the doorway clutching the strap to her purple and pink unicorn backpack. It was Victoria's first day of kindergarten, the grip on her backpack and the grin on her babyish face told me that she was warring between excited and anxious to start her day.

"One second little bear, I'm almost done," I tell her pulling on my work shoes. Standing up and straightening my tie, I can't help but feel lost. Just looking at Tori's face makes me want to tell her to put her pajamas back on and make today a movie day. She's growing up way too fast and I'm not prepared for this next step. But her jumping in the doorway makes it impossible for me to even think about telling her that the thing she has been looking forward to all summer will not happen today. So I breathe deeply one last time, ducking my eyes away from the mirror and turn to my bouncing sister. Smiling brightly I scoop up the giggling girl and too soon we are in the car driving towards the school.

Waving through the glass window of the class door, Tori's eyes glimmer with unshed tears, but just as I'm thinking she'll need me for a hug one last time her teacher says something that makes her grin and resolutely turns away from me. Now, I'm the one that feels like I need the last hug. With nothing else holding to my spot in front of the door, I turn to head to my job.

Walking in through the office building I angle my neck so my eyes are glued to the floor. I track the subtle crack in the tile to the elevator and pray for an empty space up. But like my luck, I am stuffed into the square with the maximum space capacity filled. Lowering my head as much as possible being 6 foot 9, I avert my eyes even more, as if that would help any. What seems like a lifetime later, I reach my floor to which I walk to my office with no incident. It's no surprise to me though, an invisible accountant like me hardly receives much interruption. Setting to work, time seems to fly, that is until I look up and find that hardly an hour has passed. Today is going to drag on knowing that hours stand between me and picking up Victoria.

Venturing to the copy room is always a chore and a skill that I have mastered to get through. Being an introvert like me, I have come up with the way to avoid interaction as much as humanely possible in every situation I could think of. Some call it obsessive. I call it surviving. Between 1 and 1:15, the halls are relatively clear and the copy room remains absolutely empty between these times as this is the time lunch is being eaten and when employees usually avoid their offices.

Not letting a precious moment go to waste I make purposeful steps to the copy room. I'm entering the room and I am beginning to think that this trip was another successful visit to the copier when my large frame is hit with a smaller one. My papers go flying while the person's papers I had hit fly along with them. Scrambling for my things, I avoid looking at the other person while trying to force out my apologies while also trying to find a way out of the situation. Grabbing what is left of my papers I am about to scramble out of the room when a feminine voice stops me.

"Wait…. Aren't you going to use the copier?"

"Um… no… you go ahead, I'll come back,"

"No, I'm done, don't leave, I swear I don't have the plague!" A laugh finishes the statement.

I stammer not knowing how to escape without seeming like a complete idiot.

"O-okay, if you're sure,"

I begin to make room for the departing woman with my back still to her but her voice stops me again.

"I'm Rosemarie by the way, most people call me Rose though, I just started here today as a part time job,"

"Nice to meet you Rose,"

There is silence for a moment and I begin to think that the woman must have left somehow, but the voice stops me again, "I'm sorry I ran in to you but can you at least face me and tell me your name?"

Breathing slightly, I turn towards the voice keeping my head low, "My name's Dimitri,"

"Well it's nice to meet you,"

Out of the corner of my eye I see black skirt swirl away from me but immediately, it turns back around.

Sounding flustered I hear "You know, most people look at people when they talk to others, it's only polite,"

Taken off guard by her fierce tone and her abrupt change in tune I jerk my head up. Instead of immediately pushing my head back down, I find that I can't take my eyes away from the beauty standing in front of me. Staring with the deepest brown, I am struck dumb with the emotion behind those eyes, framed with long lashes. Travelling away from the intensity, I find that her heart shaped face is framed with dark brown hair flows in natural curls. Smooth in appearance at first glance, all I want to do is run my fingers through her long hair and trace the blush on her cheeks. It is not until my eyes reach her lips that I finally realize that this beauty can see my face, jerking my head down again away from the parted red lips, I begin to escape out the door again, papers needing to be copied be damned, I needed out.

"Oh…"

I don't stick around long enough to hear what she has to say. Or worse yet… what she doesn't have to say.

I'm excited about this story, I should update once a week. But I apologize if that does not always happen, I live a busy life. I am always open for constructive criticism! Thank you to anyone that takes time to read this and also, I promise the writing will get better as the story goes on. Thank you!